Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-LedgerAlong Springfield Avenue community activist Earl Best, right, also known as Street Doctor, comforts Tracy Baines after she found out that her son Amar McLean was killed when he was shot by an Essex County Sheriff Deputy.NEWARK -- A narcotics seizure turned bloody this afternoon when an Essex County sheriff’s officer shot and killed a suspect during a struggle, the prosecutor's office said.

Preliminary reports of the shooting at Springfield Avenue and South 15th Street in Newark suggest the gunfire came during a "narcotics intercept," Paul Loriquet, spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, said

"There was a struggle, and a suspect was shot and killed," Loriquet said. "They’re still out there investigating."

The spokesman said the sheriff’s officer was assigned to the prosecutor’s bureau of narcotics.

Outside of Bills Wash & Dry, where the victim's body was found, a group stood, crying.

Witnesses at the scene said the man was shot in the chest.

Family members identified the victim as Amar McLean, 23. Saleenah Baines, who said she was McLean's sister, said she was on the phone with her brother shortly before the shooting. Only later from her other brother did she find out McLean was killed.

“He was trying to make something of himself. He doesn’t sell drugs,” she said.

Baines said McLean has a 3-year-old son and another child on the way.

Staff writer Sharon Adarlo contributed to this report.

Google MapsSprinfield Avenue and South 15th Street in Newark, where a man was fatally shot today during a drug bust by a Essex County sheriff's officer.